berg80
Diamond Member
- Oct 28, 2017
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When trump fired Comey in 2017 he sent a letter to the DoJ explaining why. He said he had taken the advice of the then 1 and 2 in the dept., Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein. What follows is Rosenstein's rationale. (I would have included Sessions' as well but it's too much to cut and paste for board copyright rules.)
He was talking about Comey nearly a decade ago, but he could be talking about Trump today.
“The goal of a federal criminal investigation is not to announce our thoughts at a press conference,” Rosenstein continued. “The goal is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a federal criminal prosecution, then allow a federal prosecutor who exercises authority delegated by the attorney general to make a prosecutorial decision.”
He was talking about Comey nearly a decade ago, but he could be talking about Trump today.
Rosenstein cited the views of several top-ranking Justice Department officials to support his recommendation. Judge Laurence Silberman, who was deputy attorney general during the Ford administration, said that “it is not the bureau’s responsibility to opine on whether a matter should be prosecuted.” Rosenstein quoted Jamie Gorelick and Larry Thompson, who served as deputy attorneys general under President Clinton and George W. Bush, as saying that Comey had violated his obligation to “preserve, protect and defend” the traditions of the Justice Department, and had instead engaged in “a kind of reality TV of federal criminal investigation” that was “antithetical to the interests of justice.”
They were talking about Comey nearly a decade ago, but they could be talking about Trump today.
I'd like to focus on this part of Rod's remarks. “The goal is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a federal criminal prosecution, then allow a federal prosecutor who exercises authority delegated by the attorney general to make a prosecutorial decision.”
That is what happened, sorta. Erik Seibert was the federal prosecutor and he made a prosecutorial decision. It just wasn't the one trump wanted him to make. So he and his deputy, Maya Song, who happened to agree with Seibert, were fired.
Right now the country could use some of what trump 1.0 had but trump 2.0 does not. Someone trump will listen to who will tell him, "Sir, you shouldn't do that, it's a terrible idea."
It's a terrible idea to fire a US Attorney you appointed because he could find sufficient evidence to charge two people you announced to the world are part of your politically motivated revenge tour.
It's a terrible idea to violate the Posse Comitatus Act and send troops in to US cities against the expressed wishes of the governor of the state and the mayor of the city on the pretense of a made up emergency.
It's a terrible idea to claim authorization under the Alien Enemies Act to deport people since it was not intended to be used that way.
Impulsive, reckless, illegal acts are no way to run a country. Gen. John Kelly knew that. There are no John Kelly's with trump's ear now. We are seeing trump completely unleashed.......being the prez he always wanted to be.......and it shows.
The Best Case Against Indicting Comey Is the One Trump Made for Firing Him
Rosenstein criticized Comey’s behavior during the F.B.I. investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails, when the director gave a high-profile news conference in 2016 criticizing Clinton for being “extremely careless” in using a private server for government work but declined to bring charges against her. Rosenstein said Comey had “gratuitously” released “derogatory information” about Clinton and had “laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial.” He called it a “textbook example” of what federal officials are trained not to do.He was talking about Comey nearly a decade ago, but he could be talking about Trump today.
“The goal of a federal criminal investigation is not to announce our thoughts at a press conference,” Rosenstein continued. “The goal is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a federal criminal prosecution, then allow a federal prosecutor who exercises authority delegated by the attorney general to make a prosecutorial decision.”
He was talking about Comey nearly a decade ago, but he could be talking about Trump today.
Rosenstein cited the views of several top-ranking Justice Department officials to support his recommendation. Judge Laurence Silberman, who was deputy attorney general during the Ford administration, said that “it is not the bureau’s responsibility to opine on whether a matter should be prosecuted.” Rosenstein quoted Jamie Gorelick and Larry Thompson, who served as deputy attorneys general under President Clinton and George W. Bush, as saying that Comey had violated his obligation to “preserve, protect and defend” the traditions of the Justice Department, and had instead engaged in “a kind of reality TV of federal criminal investigation” that was “antithetical to the interests of justice.”
They were talking about Comey nearly a decade ago, but they could be talking about Trump today.
I'd like to focus on this part of Rod's remarks. “The goal is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a federal criminal prosecution, then allow a federal prosecutor who exercises authority delegated by the attorney general to make a prosecutorial decision.”
That is what happened, sorta. Erik Seibert was the federal prosecutor and he made a prosecutorial decision. It just wasn't the one trump wanted him to make. So he and his deputy, Maya Song, who happened to agree with Seibert, were fired.
Right now the country could use some of what trump 1.0 had but trump 2.0 does not. Someone trump will listen to who will tell him, "Sir, you shouldn't do that, it's a terrible idea."
It's a terrible idea to fire a US Attorney you appointed because he could find sufficient evidence to charge two people you announced to the world are part of your politically motivated revenge tour.
It's a terrible idea to violate the Posse Comitatus Act and send troops in to US cities against the expressed wishes of the governor of the state and the mayor of the city on the pretense of a made up emergency.
It's a terrible idea to claim authorization under the Alien Enemies Act to deport people since it was not intended to be used that way.
Impulsive, reckless, illegal acts are no way to run a country. Gen. John Kelly knew that. There are no John Kelly's with trump's ear now. We are seeing trump completely unleashed.......being the prez he always wanted to be.......and it shows.
